Lopez, Best Back-Courter of the World...

Lopez dreams with having succes in Mexico

Mexico, May 7 (EFE).- The Spanish jai alai player Imanol Lopez, best back-courter of the world, said having succes in Mexico is one of his dreams as a professional player and hopes to achieve it this year at Acapulco or in Mexico D.F.

"I've had succes in Spain, South France, at Miami and at other important places and now what I want is to achieve some titles in Mexico in oder to say that I`had won all", said to EFE the 26 years old, from Zumaia, in the province of Guipuzcoa.

Lopez is 6:4 and weights 222 pounds, Lopez is one of the stars in a better physical shape of the circuit and now he has matured as a player. He´s by far the most powerful player, he`s got a tremendous left-hand reverse shot, along with a great positioning on the court.

"Nowadays my physical conditioning is better than what it was when I was 20 and I only need to work real hard in order to continue being the number one, a tough challenge because there are some players like the French Irastorza and the Spanish Hernandez, two players that in a good day can give anybody a lot of trouble".

Mexico will organize two important jai alai tournaments in the second part of this year. Acapulco in September, which belongs to the "Master Series" and one in November because of the reopening of the Mexico Fronton, and Lopez sees both challenges as real opportunities.

"The Mexico Fronton was for jai alai what the Yankee Stadium is for baseball Big Leagues and I have a real interest in playing there because it`s a place where the best stars shone", he explains.

Imanol`s power is the greatest, however, coaches point out his control, which helped him in taking the most wins this season at Miami.

"My power is good, but speed is not good enough unless you throw the ball where it should; it takes a great coordination, elasticity, plasticity and , above all, intelligence", explains Lopez when reavelling the clue keys for reaching the top of his sport.

Lopez looks up to fellow countrymen like Paul Gasol, one of the greatest of the NBA, and Rafael Nadal, number three in the tennis ranking. Lopez is aware of his physical aptitudes, he could been an outstanding basquetball player or a soccer goalkeeper.

"What happens is that this sport (jai alai) is a tradition in my family. Since I was a kid my father got me involved and I´m grateful because all I have is thanks to this port".